Release. The Kraken.

I have to admit, I simply could not fathom that Donald Trump would be elected as President of the United States. I simply had too much faith that voters would reject a man who is openly a racist, a misogynist, a homophobe, an Islamophobe, a xenophobe, a fraud, a liar and more. However, today is the day he is inUGHurated. This is all -- to use Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2016 -- surreal.

I have covered Trump throughout the campaign and since the election. Many of my plog (poetry blog) posts about Trump include poetry by Emmett Lee Dickinson (HERE), and some do not (HERE).

In somber observance of this madness, I offer Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "We learned the Whole of Hate" (below on the left). Dickinson was quite a visionary, and though the poem was written in the late-1800s, it captures the dread of today's gloomy proceedings. Dickinson's poem also inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "We learned the Whole of Love" (below on the right).​

Pictured below: The White House is draped in black to signal the start of the Trump presidency.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:We learned the Whole of Hate –The Alphabet – the Words –A Chapter – then the total Book –Once – the Election closed –

But in Each Voter’s eyesAn ignorance beheld –Deluded by the Wild Man –Who speech to speech, was wild –

Attempted to explainWhat No one – understood –Alas, our Wisdom so poorWith Trump – so uncontrolled!

By Emily Dickinson:

We learned the Whole of Love –The Alphabet – the Words –A Chapter – then the mighty Book –Then – Revelation closed --

But in Each Other's eyesAn Ignorance beheld –Diviner than the Childhood's –And each to each, a Child –

Attempted to expoundWhat Neither — understood –Alas, that Wisdom is so large –And Truth – so manifold!

With just one day to go before Trump's inUGHuration, his new book, "The Art of the Con," hit the bookstore shelves.

“I like a lot of books,” said Trump in a recent interview. “I like reading books. I don’t have the time to read very much now in terms of the book, but I like reading them.” Really. He really said this.“And now I’ve written the two biggest sellers of all time, The Art of the Deal and The Art of the Con. The Art of the Con comes out today, and it’s a good book. A great book – a very great book – and I think people who don’t have time to read books but like to read books like I do, I think they’re really going to want to read this book. I'ts a great book."

Trump has, of course, been tweeting about his new magnum opus. Since 3:00 a.m. this morning.

Pictured at the right: Trump's new book Trump and the Art of the Con.

​Pictured below: Tweets by @realDonaldTrump about his very great book "Trump and the Art of the Con." Click the images to enlarge.

Of course, all of Trump's ballyhoo about his book reminded us of Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "There is no Friggin' book like Mine" (below on the left). Perhaps that poem inspired Trump to write his book about the art of the con? Maybe. Maybe not. But we are sure that Dickinson's poem was one of the inspirations for Emily Dickinson to write her poem "There is no Frigate like a Book" (below on the right). ​

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

There is no Friggin’ book like MineTo take your Cash awayIt’s like the Courses at Trump U.With what I have to Say –All other Books the poorest takeAnd then they pay the Toll –So show your smarts and buy my BookOr lose your Human soul

By Emily Dickinson:

There is no Frigate like a BookTo take us Lands awayNor any Coursers like a PageOf prancing Poetry--This Traverse may the poorest takeWithout oppress of Toll--How frugal is the ChariotThat bears the Human soul

If you thought Trump’s recent press conference was ludicrous, you should have seen the president-elect’s first meeting with the White House Poet Corps. It turns out that most of the poets are now card-carrying members of Poets Against Trump, and that reality incensed Trump.At one point Trump got into a heated exchange with the world’s leading scholar on Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request).“You publish fake poems,” he barked. “Fake poems!” Of course, that could not be further from the truth.

As a result of the heated meeting with the poets, Trump had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find a poet willing to write an official poem for his inUGHuration. Have you read the poem? (HERE). It is god-awful.

First, the poet, Joseph Charles McKenzie, is a failed advertising executive who wrote insipid catchphrases for products advertised on Scottish TV. As a result, McKenzie lifted the opening lines for his poem from his advertising campaign for kilt liners for men:

The opening lines to the poem:

​Come out for the Domhnall, ye brave men and proud,The scion of Torquil and best of MacLeod!

The lines from the Kilt-liner ad:

Dress out in the Domhnall, ye brave men & proudLiners for the wee-handed (not well-endowed)!​

The poem then continues with hollow bombast and bizarre bluster. The poem is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing more than pure jiggery-pokery. To be honest, some of the lines are so absurd that the poem should come illustrated with a picture of Trump sitting with his beloved Taco Bowl.

Of course, the poem -- called "Pibroch of the Domhnall" -- is best described by lines written in the late-1800s by Emmett Lee Dickinson called "It piles on Bombast to its close" (below on the left). Dicksinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "To pile like Thunder to its close" (below on the right). ​

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

It piles on Bombast to its closeThen grumbles mad awayWith Everything bunk and blusterThis – is bad Poetry –

Or Jiggery Pokery – the two connected come –For both or either prove –Hilarious, absurd, and campy –And Both are pure Apple Sauce –

By Emily Dickinson:

To pile like Thunder to its closeThen crumble grand awayWhile Everything created hidThis – would be Poetry –

Or Love – the two coeval come –We both and neither prove –Experience either and consume –For None see God and live –

Looks like Donald Trump’s going to get his wall after all, but it won't be across the US-Mexico border. No, the wall’s going to be around his inUGHuration parade route and the White House. And it’s going to be a “Wall of Meat.”We’re not making this up – you can read all about it HERE.

At first we assumed that the “Wall of Meat” would be constructed of Trump Steaks, but no. Turns out it will be made up by a chain-saw artist and 5,000 of his biker friends (so we suspect that the wall will be all white meat).We imagine that Mr. Cox, the biker-founder of the pro-Trump group organizing the “Wall of Meat,” got the idea from a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request). Dickinson was quite a visionary, and he wrote about a “Wall of Meat” in the late-1800s in his poem “Go not too near the House of White” (below on the left). His poem also inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “Go not too neat a House of Rose” (below on the right).

​Mr. Cox asked Lady Gaga to participate in the "Wall of Meat," but like every other A-list celebrity, she declined. Cox and the bikers also approached Meatloaf, but like every other B-list (and C-list, D-list, and E-list) celebrity, he declined as well.

Pictured at the right: Lady Gaga has refused to donate her meat dress to the Wall of Meat.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Go not too near the House of White –Intimidation’s sure to GreetYour demonstration – for AdoAlarms its Wall of Meat –

Nor try to yell or SpeechifyNor climb a Fence in Protest,The new security on bikesIs just ensuring no dissent.

By Emily Dickinson:

Go not too near a House of Rose –The depredation of a Breeze –Or inundation of a DewAlarms its walls away –